Week in Grieview

Posts this past week included (with a photo along Second Street) ... 

• Parking removed on sections of Avenues A and D; curbside bus lanes set for M14 service (Wednesday) 

• RIP Lisa Martin (Thursday)

• Hoop dreams: A memorial for Jesse Parrilla (Friday) 

• Lord Kitty fell from a window and needs surgery (Saturday) 

• The Gallery Watch Q&A: Kevin Sabo on ‘Kimberly Pepperoni’s Closet’ (Thursday)

• Treetops tops off on 2nd Avenue; signage arrives (Monday) 

• Openings: Sacco on 11th Street (Thursday) ... Cafe Joah on Avenue A (Tuesday) 

• Police searching for suspect who burglarized a storage room on Avenue B (Saturday) 

• A visit with Wolfie, a talented emerging outsider artist — and rabbit (Tuesday) 

• City pools open with limited staffing (Tuesday) 

• More burgers for the former Black Iron Burger on 5th Street (Thursday) 

• Compilation Coffee coming to St. Mark’s Place (Monday)

• Brooklyn Roasting Company opens a cafe inside the Strand (Monday) 

• ‘American Horror Story’ brings the porn and 1980s mobiles to 9th Street (Friday)

• Let the wheatpaste battle BEGIN! (Wednesday) 

• A new Korean concept for the Oiji space on 1st Avenue (Wednesday) 

• Raclette reopens (Monday)

• Blank Street continues East Village expansion with outpost on 1st Avenue (Tuesday) 

... and we had a @Culture.20 sighting on Second Avenue ... photo by Derek Berg...

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Second Hand Rose has apparently closed on 12th and Broadway

[Photo by Alex]

Alex at Flaming Pablum shares the news that Second Hand Rose, the collectible record shop on 12th and Broadway, has closed.

The place opened on 14th Street and Sixth Avenue in 1977 ... moving to a small storefront across the street from the Strand in 2000.


[Image via Second Hand Rose]

I always hate to see record shops close... though there wasn't much immediate lost love for Rose. As Alex wrote, "I was never a fan of the place — disorganized, dusty, strangely overpriced and pointedly surly."

And they didn't really like sick people shopping in the store...


[Photo by Alex]

EVG Etc.: NYC housing woes; red-tailed hawk radio drama

[Zoltar makes for a fine fashion backdrop ... via Derek Berg]

Cuomo will issue emergency declaration to fix NYCHA (The Post)

Elected officials ask city to stop Rivington House condo conversion (The Lo-Down)

Amid housing crisis, NYC must rethink how land is owned (CityLimits)

The city’s crackdown on electric bikes is destroying the livelihood of people who make deliveries for a living (Fast Company)

Claims of increasing affordability in NYC aren’t quite right (Curbed)

Here’s what a landlord typically makes on a stabilized apartment (The Real Deal)

Feminist Film Week continues through Sunday at the Anthology Film Archives (Official site)

50th anniversary of the Fillmore East opening (Off the Grid)

Dora — storm trooper! (Laura Goggin Photography)

A Christo-Dora-Nora/Not-Dora radio drama! (WNYC)

City all in with dry ice to kill rats (Daily News)

An interview with EV resident Alan Cumming on "Instinct," the first hourlong network drama with a gay lead (The New York Times)

New Beer Distributors on Chrystie Street is closing (Jeremiah's Vanishing New York)

Nom Wah Tu shutters 6 months in (Eater)

History of the German Dispensary building at 137 Second Ave. — now the Ottendorfer library (Ephemeral New York)

Podcast: Catching up with Hector Monsegur aka Sabu (Bloomberg)

Making art from old prom dresses at the Lower Eastside Girls Club (The Cut)

Strand owner Fred Bass leaves $25 million to heirs (The Post)

Two chances to see "Blue Velvet" Sunday (The Metrograph)

Sake's popularity grows (amNY)

EV-based Black Iron Burger opening a spot near the Barclays Center (The Post)

When John Cale and Lester Bangs appeared on stage together at CBGB in 1978 (Dangerous Minds)

... and Peter Brownscombe shares the latest from the Ray's Candy Store lab — the Chocolate Banana Dip (chilled banana dipped in chocolate)...

Looking at the Royal Building entrance

Just a little east of the Fultonhaus is the Royal Building on 95 Fulton St. I love the entrance, with the two barber poles and old-school IRT sign.




And yes -- this building once housed the Strand Annex. That space is still empty.

Thursday's parting shot

Photo by Steven 

This evening in Tompkins Square Park ... where another strand of lights on the tree seemed to have gone out (since Dec. 26) ...

At the book party for Ada Calhoun's 'Also a Poet'

Photos by Stacie Joy 

Above: Ada Calhoun with her father Peter Schjeldahl

On Tuesday night, East Village native Ada Calhoun celebrated the release of her latest memoir, "Also a Poet: Frank O'Hara, My Father, and Me." 

The festivities occurred in the garden at St. Mark's Church in-the-Bowery on 10th Street and Second Avenue. Calhoun grew up two-plus blocks from here on St. Mark's Place with her father, New Yorker art critic Peter Schjeldahl, and mother, actress Brooke Alderson (seen below with longtime neighbor Phillip Giambri).

The book's premise sounds pretty straightforward: In the basement of her parent's apartment building on St. Mark's Place, Calhoun came across some old cassette tapes of interviews her father had conducted for his never-completed biography of poet Frank O'Hara.

So Calhoun, whose credits include "St. Marks Is Dead," decided to finish the book her father started 40 years earlier.

The result, as Alexandra Jacobs put it in a review at the Times this week:

"Also a Poet" began as Calhoun's attempt to finish what her dazzling, absent-minded father couldn't: "to do something noble and to win." But it turned into something much less dutiful, and more interesting, a story about both the impossibility of reconstructing another person's life and the importance of trying — and an investigation of the strained, complicated relationship between a creative father and daughter.

You can read more about the project in this feature in the Times.

Back at St. Mark's Church in-the-Bowery, there was a short program, MC'd by Calhoun's husband, Neal Medlyn (aka Champagne Jerry).

Singer-songwriter Lindsay Ellyn, who became friends with Calhoun after discovering "St. Marks Is Dead," played a song on her acoustic guitar. Schjeldahl read the last poem that he wrote. Actress Lili Taylor recited Frank O'Hara's "To the Harbormaster." 

Calhoun then read an excerpt from the book, about the time her father, on his wife's encouragement, decided to buy something for his daughter. He returned from the Strand with two books, one by W. H. Auden and the other a copy of "Lunch Poems" by Frank O'Hara. She was 9 at the time.

Here's a look at some attendees who came out for the "Also a Poet" celebration... 

... and Calhoun with her son Oliver and her father...

On July 17, Calhoun will be appearing at the Jefferson Market Library on Sixth Avenue (the library reopens on July 14 after a $10-million renovation). Find details here.

EV Grieve Etc.: Mourning Edition

[East 12th Street this morning]

The Mosaic Man's McMansion work on East Third Street (BoweryBoogie)

More about Morrissey assisting a woman who collapsed at the Strand (Gothamist)

A 12-story building for Pitt and Delancey (The Lo-Down)

A night at the Blackbird on Avenue B (The New York Times)

The Yom Kippur riot on the LES in 1898 (The Bowery Boys)

Changes at the Bleecker Street station (Off the Grid)

An appreciation of Neil's Coffee Shop on the UES (Jeremiah's Vanishing NY)

The end of 5 Pointz (The Observer)

Noted

"Rob Pattinson ... was hit by a taxi cab on Thursday while running away from hysterical fans. RadarOnline.com witnessed the Twilight star get clipped by a cab around noon in front of the Strand Bookstore on Broadway and 12th Street."

Staples pulls out of the South Street Seaport gateway: That was easy

The big Staples store (they're actually all big, huh?) that anchored the corner of Water Street and Fulton Street at the gateway to the South Street Seaport rather quietly packed up its ink and toner, binders and desk organizers, and closed up shop last month. Maybe the Staples brass figured business would fall because NYU's lease on the Rockrose-owned Water Street dorm adjacent to the store will not be renewed after this academic year.



There has been activity here of late, though it mostly seems to be workers clearing out the remaining Staples stuff.



Apparently they don't want you to know a Staples was here.



With the departure of the Strand Annex at 95 Fulton in September, there is some nice, fat storefrontage available on the east-end of the street. Maybe that construction will be completed in the next 10 years or so.

EVG Etc.: Possible weather-related death on 9th and 3rd; honors for dogs-rescuing cop

[Tompkins Square Park the other night]

A homeless man found overnight on Ninth Street and Third Avenue dies; officials say he may be the first weather-related fatality of the season (Daily News)

ASPCA honors NYPD officer who helped rescue 33 Shih Tzus from a sweltering East Village apartment last summer (Daily News ... previously)

Some early history of the Nuyorican Poets Cafe on Third Street (The New York Times)

More on the Strand's objections to landmark designation (Curbed ... Gothamist)

That hunk Christo is in the 2019 Peregrine Fund "Birds of Prey" calendar (Laura Goggin Photography)

City Council quickly sues over the Two Bridges development (The Real Deal)

A preview of Thomas Lanigan-Schmidt’s "Tenemental (With Sighs Too Deep For Words)" at Howl! Happening (Hyperallergic)

Nathan Silver's latest, "The Great Pretender," making its U.S. theatrical debut (Anthology Film Archives)

Stanton Social is closing at the end of the year (The Post)

A tiny owl in Stuy Town (Town & Village ... previously)

Some NYC coffee history (Ephemeral New York)

... and here's the original Twitter footage of the man taking on a bus on East Houston at Forsyth on Wednesday night...

new york niggas don’t play pic.twitter.com/99YgNxkIsY

— TJANI (@TJANI) December 5, 2018

Week in Grieview

[Photo on 2nd Avenue yesterday by Derek Berg]

Strand co-owner Fred Bass dies (Thursday)

Building that housed Lucky Cheng's on 1st Avenue now on the auction block (Tuesday)

It's no longer always Friday: TGI Friday's has closed on Union Square (Thursday)

The latest I Am a Rent-Stabilized Tenant (Friday)

Caviarteria Beluga Bar looking to bring fine fish eggs and champagne to 9th Street (Wednesday)

Last call at the Grassroots Tavern (Tuesday)

It bomb cycloned (Thursday)


[Avenue A on Thursday]

Are Kmart's days numbered on Astor Place? (Friday)

The state of national retailers in NYC; Dunkin’ Donuts tops the list again (Tuesday)

Pinky's Space now open on 1st Street (Wednesday)

Frisson Espresso opens on 3rd Avenue (Tuesday)

Yerba Buena closes on Avenue A; relocates this summer to Thompson Street (Friday)

Former Pourt space for lease on Cooper Square (Tuesday)

New Year's Ray (Monday)

Here's your Vape N Smoke signage on 2nd Avenue (Wednesday)

Boarding up Mamani Pizza on Avenue A (Tuesday)

Second Avenue cab crash (Monday)

Haque Convenience Store is now the Beer & Smoke Shop on 1st Avenue (Wednesday)

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Friday's opening shot

Photo by Stacie Joy 

As seen at Book Club on Third Street... "Some Strange Music Draws Me In," the first novel by East Village resident Griffin Hansbury. (Griffin also wrote the nonfiction "Feral City" and "Vanishing New York," both as Jeremiah Moss.) 

Griffin will speak this evening (March 15) at the Strand with Hugh Ryan. More information is here. 

As previously noted, Griffin/Jeremiah has been a longtime friend of EVG... and is really the reason the site exists today (as it almost went away in 2008).

Bookstore trends we like to see

Your McNally Jackson master class in doubling down: we’re staying at our Prince Street location and opening two new bookstores this year. https://t.co/ky8lb0MDAV

— McNally Jackson (@mcnallyjackson) February 11, 2019

Highlighting three positive NYC bookstore developments from recent days (and weeks):

• McNally Jackson is staying in its Prince Street home — and opening two new locations in downtown Brooklyn and the South Street Seaport (Vulture)

• Left Bank Books is returning, reopening at a new location at 41 Perry St. (JVNY)

• Westsider Books on Broadway between 80th and 81st saved by crowdfunding campaign (Westside Rag)

Bonus round ...

View this post on Instagram

Look ma, I’m on TV! 📺 Thx @jeopardy 🥰

A post shared by Strand Book Store, NYC (@strandbookstore) on Feb 7, 2019 at 7:06am PST

EVG Etc.: NYC businesses struggling with anti-Asian violence; new vendor replacing the Hester Street Fair

• Business owners struggle with unrelenting anti-Asian violence in NYC (Eater) 

• Scenes from the vigil against anti-Asian racism at Union Square (Gothamist) 

• Local City Councilmember Carlina Rivera advocates for an extension on Local Law 1932, which has helped NYC restaurants hang on during the pandemic (Grub Street)

• A report from the pop-up pantry yesterday at Most Holy Redeemer Nativity Church on 3rd Street (NY1 ... previously on EVG)

• A look at the NYC jobs market amid the pandemic (The City)

• How the Strand lost its workers (Vulture ... more on Instagram)

• Convicted felon Steve Croman receives two-year extension to pay off his remaining $2 million restitution to tenants (The Real Deal)

• After 10 years, the Hester Street Fair is without a home in Seward Park (Curbed ... there's a petition in place to give the Fair another season here) 

• A review of the new documentary on iconic East Village artist and activist David Wojnarowicz (IndieWire)

• East Village-based photographer Sally Davies on her portraits of New Yorkers in their homes (The Guardian)

• A more subdued St. Patrick's Day at McSorley's (Gothamist) 

• Village Preservation is now accepting nominations for individuals, institutions, organizations, businesses, public spaces, or renovations that make special contributions to Greenwich Village, the East Village or NoHo. The Village Awards Nominations window closes on Friday, April. Awards will be presented on June 16. Learn more about the Village Awards here ... and nominate a local business, institution, community group, restoration, renovation or hero at this link.

• ICYMI: The Iggy Pop commercial for Marshall (Muse by Clio) 

The Bean opening a second location across from the Strand on Broadway

EV Grieve reader/contributor jdx notes this sign in the window at the Bean on First Avenue and Third Street. Perhaps at this location?

EVG Etc.: Rent reform reactions; 'Russian Doll' returns

[Photo on Astor Place by Vinny & O]

What NYC tenants need to know about the new rent reform deal (Gothamist) Reaction from the "shocked" titans of NYC real estate (The New York Times) Real-estate groups to file lawsuit (Commercial Observer)

Residents call for independent review of storm-proofing plans for East River Park (Patch ... more reaction via The Villager)

The bill that would make NYC streets safer and break up the car culture (Curbed)

City Council members Carlina Rivera and Donovan Richards byline this piece on the importance of Community Land Trusts (City Limits)

The Strand is officially a designated landmark — despite objections from its owner (NBC 4) Reaction: "The vote is a huge disappointment, as the City has refused to consider landmark designation or any other substantial protections for the nearly 200 buildings on a dozen blocks of this part of Greenwich Village and the East Village." (Village Preservation)

Seems like 2008: A bank branch for part of the former Coffee Shop on Union Square (Jeremiah's Vanishing NY)

Shakespeare in the Parking Lot turns 25, will stage Romeo & Juliet July 11-27 (Official site)

"Russian Doll," filmed in the East Village, is returning for more on Netflix (Vanity Fair)

A WorldPride calendar of events (The Advocate)

East Village well-represented in the listicle of the city's best ice cream shops (Eater)

Take a listen to Jesse Malin’s new song, featuring Billie Joe Armstrong, called "Strangers & Thieves" (Rolling Stone)

The Jarmusch fest continues through the weekend (Metrograph)

When Johnny Thunders opened for the Replacements (Dangerous Minds)

Photos: The final days of the Streit’s Matzo Factory (6sqft)

Metro Acres Market will replace the Fine Fare at 175 Clinton St. on the LES (The Lo-Down)

A NIMBY speech (McSweeney's)

... and the 6BC Botanical Garden is having one final orientation this year on Sixth Street between Avenue B and Avenue C.

Per the garden's website:

Saturday, June 15 at 11:30 a.m.

Become a member of 6BC and help keep the garden beautiful.

Member benefits:
• Personal access to the garden. Once you have completed your membership workday and orientation, you will receive garden keys. You may then visit and work in the garden on your own schedule.
• Learn about gardening
• Have the opportunity to maintain garden plots
• Meet your neighbors
• Give back to your community

Remembering Bingo Gazingo

My friend Karen Lillis passed along a link to me the other day about Bingo Gazingo, described by the Times in 1997 "as the near-toothless underground performance sensation." The author of such songs as "I Love You So Fucking Much I Can't Shit" died on New Year's Day from injuries that he suffered after getting struck by a cab. He was 85.

Life Just Bounces had a lovely tribute to the man:

You'd hesitate to call him a celebrity by any stretch of the imagination, but New York street/performance poet Bingo Gazingo's obscurity likely served as an aid to his singular imagination and oddball creativity.

With his often crude, spiky, agitated and hilarious rants about sex, dementia, and, especially, popular culture, Gazingo (born Murray Wachs in Queens in 1924) was a Monday night regular every week at New York's Bowery Poetry Club. He was struck by a taxi on his way to one of these very events, presumably on December 28th, and died on New Year's Day.

As Karen told me, "Bingo was wildly unique, and relentless at what he did."

The Times wrote about Bingo in Janaury 1997:

As a young man, he says, he worked as a logger for Broadcast Music Incorporated, or B.M.I., the music licensing agency, sitting over radio play lists with a blue pencil, identifying songs for which the company was entitled to royalties. And then, he says, he disappeared into the United States Postal Service, where he worked for decades sorting mail and loading trucks. "Doing that is like spending 20 years in one day," he says.

But through it all, he says, he never abandoned his dream of being a songwriter. He wrote ballads, novelties, show tunes, country-and-western songs, anything he thought would sell, and left them at stage doors at the Roxy, the Paramount and the Strand, in a time-honored tradition "to try to get my songs to the artists."

"But they never took one of my songs," he says, waving his hands at the memory. ''I thought I would be discovered or something, but it doesn't work that way."

I always intended to go see Bingo one of these Monday nights, but I never did. Wish I would have taken the time to meet this NYC original....

Here's Bingo in action at the Lakeside Lounge in 2006...



And at the 6 stop at Astor Place...

Reminders: Time for Summer Streets

Summer Streets is back for its 11th year starting tomorrow (Saturday). As in previous years, the Department of Transportation turns Park Avenue ... and Lafayette, Astor Place and Fourth Avenue into vehicle-free zones from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. for these next three Saturdays.

This year's them is "Finding joy in unexpected moments."

Activities taking place at Astor Place include the BF Bouldering Wall & Obstacle Course and Gazillion Bubble Show’s Bubble Garden and the Oh-Shit-I-Just-Want-to-Cross-Fourth-Avenue-to-Sell-These-Books-Back-at-the-Strand Dodge 'Em.



Previously on EV Grieve:
This year's Summer Streets celebration includes rocks and bubbles on Astor Place